Australian firm to create 120 jobs in NI over five years

An Australian engineering company is planning to create 120 jobs in Newtownabbey over the next five years.

Tribe Technology designs and builds autonomous drill rigs for the mining industry.

The development is being supported by a grant of just under £1m from Invest NI.

Fourteen workers have been recruited for the initial set up of the factory with a variety of engineering roles to follow.

Tribe Technology is based in Perth, Western Australia - the centre of the county's mining industry.

Its managing director, Charlie King, is originally from Crossgar in County Down.

He said there is "a wealth of heavy manufacturing expertise" in Northern Ireland from which to recruit.

• Number of NI employees on payroll hits record high

• Texas firm to create 153 jobs in Northern Ireland

The major investment benefit flowing from the Northern Ireland Protocol is that it gives NI-based manufacturers unique access to both the GB and EU markets.

So is todays investment an example of that?

"No", says the company involved because they are not targeting either of those markets.

Instead their products will initially be shipped to customers in Western Australia.

They will be targeting global markets but that will mean other big mining economies like Canada or South Africa, not GB or the EU.

Mr King added that the firm aims to "revolutionise the drill rig industry for global minerals mining".

He said the use of autonomous rigs will improve safety and reduce drilling costs.

The investment has been welcomed by Economy Minister Gordon Lyons who said it would generate over £3m in annual salaries.

Mr Lyons said the inward investment pipeline was looking good for the rest of the year having been slowed down by pandemic travel restrictions.

"It's really important for is to get investors in to see what we have to offer," he said.

"The pandemic has affected that and obviously limited growth. I hope that's now behind us."